Turkish court rejects appeal to release journalists

The Istanbul Seventh Court of Peace rejected an appeal for the release of two journalists from the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, who face charges of espionage and supporting terrorism.

According to the court, there is new evidence to terminate their detention.

The Newspaperâ€™s daily’s editor-in-chief, Can Dundar, and its Ankara bureau head, Erdem Gul were arrested on Nov. 26 for the publication of photographs and video footage purportedly showing shells and ammunition loaded on Syria-bound trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization.

The images revealed by Cumhuriyet newspaper in May 2015 showed weaponry stacked under boxes containing medicine.

The trucks were stopped in January 2014 in the southern provinces of Hatay and Adana. At the time, the government said the trucks were carrying humanitarian aid to Syriaâ€™s Turkmen community.